Activities of five medical colleges have been suspended and approval of one medical college has been revoked for not conducting quality education as per law and policy.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque came up with the information at parliament on Sunday in reply to a tabled question from Jatiya Party MP Moshiur Rahman Ranga.

The minister said that there are currently 76 private medical colleges including five run by the army in the country.

The suspended private medical colleges are Nightingale Medical College, Ashulia, Dhaka (50 seats), Northern International Medical College, Dhaka (75 seats), Northern Private Medical College, Rangpur (80 seats), and Shah Makhdoom Medical College, Rajshahi (50 seats).

However, the minister did not mention the name of the medical college that lost approval.

Meanwhile, State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury told parliament that the operation of Matarbari deep sea port can be started in 2026.

He said that the Matarbari port development project was taken at an estimated cost of Tk 17777.20 crore to establish the country's first deep sea port.

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The duration of this project is till December 31, 2026.

In reply to a query from ruling Awami League MP Kazim Uddin Ahmed, the junior minister said at present tenders have been invited in three packages for construction of 460 m long container jetty and 300m long multipurpose jetty and construction of all port facilities including container yard.

He said it is expected that the construction work of jetty and container yard can be started by next July.